Guest Column
Desireé Raneri
Tragedy will leave indelible impression on society
Sept. 11, 2001: That very date will ring in my ears for the rest of my life.
Every time I think of the date, almost ironically numbered 9/11, I’ll remember the lump in my throat that almost choked me. I will remember the knot in my stomach that made me feel physically sick. I will remember the astonishingly strong feeling of hate I felt like none other I ever had in the 15 years I had been living.
Most of all I will feel my heavy heart that almost felt like it stopped with the thousands of hearts that stopped, all only a car ride from my home, only seconds away from my family and friends.
This was a tragedy in every meaning the word can possibly possess. People were lost, along with the very staple of the New York City skyline I had known my entire life … gone with such an efficient, yet heartless motion that will be vivid in my mind for the rest of my existence.
To think that at 8:48 a.m., when I was sitting uncomfortably in class, wishing to be somewhere else, there were incalculable numbers of innocent, hardworking, beautiful people — each with a name, a family, a home — wiped out after terrorists selfishly plunged an airplane into the first tower of the World Trade Center.
The silence that rushed through the hallways of the school seemed unsettling and very unnatural and uncomfortable. We all, in our separate classrooms, watched the briefing of this unbelievable scene, only able to wish to comprehend what was happening and why it was happening. Just as we thought the terror would end, we were relentlessly struck with a view of a plane taking a nose-dive into the Pentagon.
As of now, I know approximately 100 blameless people who were killed savagely, only left with the last thoughts of their children, friends, parents, cousins, lovers, neighbors and co-workers, knowing sorrowfully they’d never again see their faces.
At 9:55 a.m., I watched the first tower of the World Trade Center collapse to a pile of debris, which consisted of paperwork, photographs and even the poor people, who could only harmlessly sit back and wonder what on earth they had ever done to have to be put through such a catastrophe. At 10:22 a.m., I watched the second tower collapse, marking the end of the twin towers which dominated the city’s breathtaking skyline.
At 10:30 a.m., as I walked solemnly to lunch, I couldn’t eat. I simply couldn’t bear it, as I looked around the room and saw the faces of my fellow friends and classmates in such mourning and sorrow for their family members who hadn’t even thought there was even a chance they would not meet again that afternoon. At about the same time, a plane was discovered crashed near Pittsburgh, as we found more innocent people suffered because of the highjacking of these planes.
At about noon, I heard of another catastrophe and could only wish it was the last on this exceedingly long list as another flight met its bitter end. For the next five and half hours, I sat and thought to myself, although very mellow and meek with the elusive news. It all almost sunk in, until I watched tower number seven of the World Trade Center collapse, ending more lives prematurely. Now all I can do is hope for the best, as I await the news of the World Trade Center’s tower three.
Thinking about all of this really stumps me still. I watched people jump to their death from the building to avoid a death by fire. How could such a choice be made? How sorry I feel for the young children who waited at school hours after dismissal, only to find their parents would never come.
And then, to look at the other end of the spectrum, I watched the Palestinian children not a day over 8 years old, cheering in the streets over a reason to "celebrate." Little children filled with such hate for one another that they could easily wish death upon each other made me want to cry.
And I feel so helpless I can’t reach out and embrace every last one of the children who lost parents. I feel sorry I can’t hold their hands, and dry their tears and kiss them on the forehead to let them know they shouldn’t be afraid, just like their parents would have done in the situation. Though I can’t quite do that, though I wish I could, I can do one thing, and that is be strong for the country. I watched George W. Bush’s speech about the devastation and had to wipe away my tears of pride to see his face, so eager with hope of finding the people who put his country in such a mess, and bring them to justice, stating that they are "a faceless coward."
Desireé Raneri is a resident of Hazlet and a sophomore at Communications High School, Wall